Floccinaucinihilipilification - or Not

It’s hard for me to sit and do absolutely nothing. I can’t do it. Eventually, the idea that nothing is “getting accomplished” begins to make my eye twitch and my hands shake. In fact, if I’m only doing one task at a time, sometimes that isn’t enough. But once every decade, the body and mind rebel, and nothing happens. Well, nothing that I normally consider Efficient or Productive.

The last time this occurred, I was in grad school. It wasn't a conscious, deliberate decision to do nothing, but rather one that randomly took root in an academia-overloaded brain.

Being at Wheaton outside of Chicago, living in grad housing without cable, the only channels available on the TV were WGN, a local PBS station, a national PBS station, and one major network. I got up that morning, started watching TV while eating breakfast, and somehow never stopped watching. My roommate was out of town, so there was no one to stop the massacre. I watched a surprisingly several-hours-long documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright, several ballroom dancing competitions, a hilarious local-PBS show called Wild Chicago, and some episodes of Friends (catch the old episodes at supper on one station; watch the newer ones late at night on another station).

At the end of the day around 11 p.m. or midnight when I decided to call it a day, I realized three things. First, I didn’t have to change my clothes – I was still in my pajamas. Second, I had not accomplished a single productive task all day, and learning the facts about Frank Lloyd Wright’s weird life didn’t seem to count. And third, I had managed to surf channels for an entire day on a TV with rabbit ears. (This last might seem like an accomplishment to some, but not by my definition.)

I didn’t know when I woke up this morning that today would be one of those days, but it has been a much better day than the one spent alone, watching TV for 14 hours.

We slept in this morning, and while I made breakfast for John (does that count as something Productive?), he looked up show times for the new James Bond movie. During and after breakfast, we read our respective books (John: The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson; me: Before I Wake by Dee Henderson). Then we got ready and left for the movie. Saw the movie, went to Borders to look at books and read, ate an early supper at Panera, returned to Borders, then came home to watch our Netflix movie, Sliding Doors with Gweneth Paltrow.

After I finish posting this blog, I still have the opportunity to make the day Productive by doing the dishes or clearing papers off the table. Or I could join John, who is already reading, since I do have a new book from Borders to read (Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii, a mystery with the obsessive-compulsive character from the HILARIOUS show on the USA channel). Everything in my nature compels me to do something Productive with the house today.

But John and I did spend a lovely day together without worries or work. That kind of Productive day doesn’t come along often enough.